Machine for sharpening razor-blades.



APPLICATION FILED AUG.I9, 1915.

Patented Oct. 29

WIFSSES:

SAMUEL KANNER, or NEW YORK, 1v. Y. ASSIGNOR TO THE ROYAL srnorrnn 00., 11m,

011' NEW. YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE ron SHARPENING RAZOR-BLADES.

Specification .of Letters Patent.

Patented Hot. 29, 1918.

Application filed August 19, 1915. Serial No. 46,254.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be, it known that I, SAMUEL KANNER, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bronx, in the county of Bronx and State of New York,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in Machines for Sharpening Razor-Blades, of which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains more'particularly to machines for sharpening thin razor blades of the type used in safety razors, and the purpose of'the invention is to provide an inexpensive machine by means of which a person may conveniently sharpen both edges of a safety razor blade. The machine of my invention comprises a box-like frame containing two sharpening rollers connected together by gearing and one of which has connected with it a driving crank, and a pivoted 'frame secured to the ends of the said box-like frame and having means by which a safety razor blade may be clamped against a transverse member thereof and by means of said member manually pressed downwardly against the sharpenin rollers.

The frame carrying the blade-c amping,

members has a spring tension'upwardly in a direction from the sharpening rollers and when said frame is in its upper position the safety blade is applied thereto and thereafter said frame is pressed downwardly to carry the edges of the blade against the so long as the said frame is held in its lower position. The clamping members carried by the pivoted frame may be turned, when said frame is in its upper position, so as to reverse the position of the blade, or in other words, turn its side which was formerly faced upwardly. to face downwardly preparatorv to the blade being subjected to the action of the sharpening rollers.

The sharpening "rollers may be variously constructed and when desired they may be of a substance adapted to serve for honing the blades. I shall preferably make the sharpening rollers of wood and provide them with a leather facing, which leather I shall wind in the form of spiral strips on the sharpening rollers so that the leather may in its 3.0131011: on the blades produce the effect of an edge movement thereagainst or th effect of the heel to toe movement in the ordinary stroppingof razor blades.

the'engagement of the blade with said rollers being maintained" spacedapart, and their shafts connected by gear-wheels 18, 19, 20, 21=,--the The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top viewvof a razor blade sharpening machine constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention, a

blade being shown in osition on the clampmg members carried y the pivoted frame and said frame being shown in its depressed position holding the blade against the sharp ening rollers;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the same, taken on the dotted line 2'2 of' Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the same, taken from the lower end of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section through the same, taken on the dotted line 4-4 of Fig.1, the pivoted frame carrying the clamping featuresbeing shown in its upper position and as haying received a blade preparatory to the clamping features being so positioned by a turning action that the blade will be level, as shown in Fig. 1, when said frame is depressed to carry the blade against the sharpening rollers;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, partly broken away, of the pivoted frame clamping members for holding the blade, the latter being shown in section;

Fig.6 is a sectional view, partly broken away, through a portion of the machine taken on the dotted line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section through a portion of the'pivoted frame and coacting parts, taken on the dotted line 77 of Fig.

5, and

Fig. 8 is a top view, partly section and partly broken away, ofthe machine illus trated as provided with honing rollers in lieu of leather covered rollers.

In the drawings, 10 designates a box-like frame having an inwardly extending flange 11 along its edges and near its ends formed with inner vertical partitions 12, 13,. shown more particularly in Fig. 6; the partitions 12,13 serve as bearings for the shafts 14, 15 of the parallel'sharpening rollers 16, 17, as will be understood on reference to Figs. 4 and 6. The rollers 16, 17 are properly atone eritlare carrying the gear-wheels 19. .20 being idlers and transthe gear-wheel 21. The gear-wheel 18 is on I within which chamber the gear-wheels 18,

19, 20 and 21 are housed, I provide a springdog 23 to prevent reverse movement of the sharpening rollers.

The sharpening rollers are, except at their extreme upper portions, housed Within the box 10, and these rollers may be variously constructed. I illustrate the preferred con-' struction ofvsharpening rollers and in this construction the body of the rollers is made of wood and the body is spirally grooved, as at 24, and within the groove of each roller is secured, by gluing or otherwise, a

spirally wound strip of leather 25, the inner.

portions of the strip being within the groove 24 and the outer portions thereof being set outwardly from the ribs 26, which are between the convolutions-of the grooves 24. The spirals of the rollers 16, 17 are reverse to each other, as shown in Fig. 1, so that both edges of the blade 27 may be correspondingly treated by the leather strips 25. The gearing hereinbefore referred to for driving the rollers 16, 17 imparts a reverse rotation to them, as denoted by the arrows in Fig. 2, although the driving crank 22 is always turned in' the same direction. The spiral winding of the strips of leather 25 have, I believe, a better effect on the edges of the blade than smooth surfaced rollers or rollers covered by a continuous piece of leather. The spiral strips when the rollers are in motion have what may be said to be a traveling effect or action on the edges of the blade in imitation of the heel to toe movement ordinarily appliedto razor blades in hand stropping. I do not desire, however, to limit my invention, in every in stance, to the employment of the spirally wound sharpening rollers, since plain covered rollers may be used with good effect as substitutes for the spirally wound rollers.

' I secure on pins or pivots 28 at-the opposite ends and near one side of the box 10, a blade carrying frame numbered as a whole 29 and comprising two ends 30, 31 and a connecting bar or member 32, said parts 30, 31, 32 being preferably formed in one integral piece of-sheet metal. The frame 29 carries the means for clamping the blade ,27 when the latteris to be moved to and held against the rollers 16, 17, and said clamping means comprise a rotary bar 33' recessed out on one side, as at 34' (Fig. 5), to receive the blade-27 and also asupplemental barf35, which is clamped against the blade by means of an internally. threaded nut 36 and a threaded" stutl 37 extending upwardly from the bar 33,

which is set within a recess formed in the bar 35, and therefore while permitted to rotate, said nut 36 is prevented from losing its engagement with the bar 35$ The razor blade 27 is formed with three holes extending through it and these holes are passed downwardly on the studs 37, 38 after which A the bar 35 is placed over said studs and gradually moved downwardly against the blade by therotation of the nut 36 upon the stud 37, until finally the bar 35 clamps the blade against the bar 33, leaving the side portions of the blade 27 exposed, as shown in Figs. 1

and 2. The bar 33 has an outwardly extend ing reduced end or shaft 40, which extends through the end 30 of the frame 29 and has a bearing therein, and said shaft 40 is equipped with a thumb piece 41.. The other end of the bar 33 is reduced, as at 42, and this reduced end of the bar is in keyed engagement with a rotary nut43 which is confined within a bearing aperture in the side 31 of the frame 29. The nut 43 at one end of the bar 33 and the reduced end 40 at the other end of said bar, serve to permit said bar to be rotated inthe frame 29 or, in other words serve, to rotatably mount said 'b'arjin said frame. The nut. 43 has, at the inner side of the frame 29, flat surfaces 44 on two opposite edges and curved surfaces 45 at its other two opposite edges, as shown in Fig. 7 Within the frame 29 I provide a 7 spring 46 which is fastened at one end to the member. 32 of the frame and thence extends downwardly and yieldingly presses against the nut 43. The spring 46 will ensurface 44 being engaged by said sprin -when one face of the blade 27 is to fade downwardly and the other flat surface 44, when the blade is reversed to turnits other face downwardly. The blade 27 is applied to the bar 33 when the frame 29 is in its upper position, shown in Fig. 4, and at this time I turn the'bar- 33, by means of the thumb piece 41, a quarterturn, so that'the spring 46 will be against one of the rounded edges 45 of said'nut and hold the bar 33 in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 4'

enabling the ready application thereto 'of the blade 27 and then the clamping bar 35 against said blade. After the blade has been secured in position uponthe bar 33, as shown 'in Fig. 4, I then by means of the thumb piece 41 turn the bar 33 until the spring 46 engages one of the flat edges 44 of the nut 43,

1,asa,see

3 against the rollers 16, 17 or to the position shown in Fig. 2, and thereupon by means of the crank 22 I rotate said rollers, with the result of sharpening both edges of the blade at one side. Thereafter I allow the frame 29 to be sprung upwardly by means of the coiled springs 47 and by means of the thumb piece 41 give the bar a one-half turn,

thus carrying the other flat'edge 44 of the nut 43 against the spring 46 and effecting the turning upside down of the razor blade, and thereupon I again press the frame 29 downwardly to carry the blade against the rollers 16, 17 for completing the sharpening thereof. The flat edges 44 on the nut 43 afford fixed means for permitting the setting of the blade 27 in correct position for presentation to the rollers 16, 17, and the user of the machine will quickly get to under stand that the frame 29 is not to be turned downwardly toward the rollers 16, 17, ex-

- cept when the spring 46 is against one or the other of the flat edges 44. I turn the clamping members to the position in which they are shown in Fig. 4 when applying or removing a blade therefrom, since when said parts are in the position shown there is less liability of the hand being cut by the blade than would be the case if the attempt were made to apply or remove the blade when the nut 36 is under the transverse member 32 of the frame 29. When the blade-carrying frame 29 is, by the springs 47 turned upwardly it will become arrested in its upper open position shown in Fig. 4, by the engagement of a shoulder 49 formed on said frame with a lug, 50 connected with and projecting beyond the endof the box or frame 10. I

The machine of my invention is small and comparatii'ely inexpensive, and it is designedto, when in use, be held in the left hand, the fingers of the hand being below the open-top box 10 and the thumb upon the member 32 of the frame 29, and when the device or machine is thus held, with a blade in position, the crank 22 will be rotated by the right hand, the pressure of the blade against thecylindrical corresponding rolls being controlled manually by pressure of the thumb against said member 32 or pressure .of the thumb and fingers against said member 32 and bottom of the box 10 respectively. The machine of my invention may be conveniently carried in a suit-case or small traveling-bag and used as occasion may require on a car or elsewhere, and one of its points of inerit is that the relation of the blade to the rolls is sensitively controlled by the human hand opposing the-force of a spring.

In Fig 8 I show honing rollers 48 in lieu of leather covered rollers or other stropping rollers and the construction shown in Fig. 8 will be understood without detailed description, sincethe device shown therein differs from that shown in Fig. 1, only in the substitution of honing rollers for stropping rollers.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

A razor-blade sharpener of the character described comprising a portable box, a pair of cylindrical sharpening rolls therein exposed at the open top of said box and geared together to have reverse rotary motion, a frame pivotally mounted at the ends of said box and near one side thereof and comprising side arms and a connecting hand-piece whereby the free end of said frame may be manually pressed toward said rolls, a bladeholder rotatably mounted in said frame and adapted to detachably hold a blade to be sharpened, and a spring acting to move said frame to its upper position above and from said rolls, said sharpener as a whole being adapted to be held in one hand between the fingers and thumb thereof with the blade pressed against the rolls in opposition to the force of said spring and having means by which with the other hand the said rolls I may be rotated.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this-18th day of August, A. D. 1915.

SAMUEL KANNER. Witnesses: z

. ARTHUR MARION,

CHAS. C. GILL. 

